Sunday, 23 December 2018

When I was in my teens I amassed quite the shoe collection, with a considerable chunk of it being £3 or £4 ones from Primark. They would give me blisters, immediately let in water even at the mention of rain and end up in the bin or the bottom of my shoe pile within a matter of weeks or months.

Since being diagnosed with erythromelalgia a few years ago, a condition where my feet can overheat, swell up and feel like they're about to burst, sun burn style, I have to be much more careful and considered with my footwear choices. Now about 90% of my shoes and boots are from Hotter (the only thing I don't have from them are a pair of dressier boots or heels) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So when they asked if I'd like to receive a new pair of boots from their Winter collection to take on a trip to the Christmas markets, I obviously jumped at the opportunity. They also very kindly asked if I'd like to bring someone else along with me on the day out and I just had to pick my Mum. She also adores Hotter and had seen a pair that had caught her eye in the Autumn/Winter catalogue a few weeks prior to our trip. Additionally, it coincided nicely with my Mum finishing up work for the holidays so it was definitely a nice treat to celebrate that.

We headed along to the brand new and much larger Hotter store in Buchanan Galleries where I must have tried on about thirty different pairs of boots in every different colour, style and size. There were just so many great pairs to choose from. My Mum on the other hand had her pair picked within seconds of arriving in the store.

She went with the gorgeous navy Mystery boots*, which are now in the sale if they've caught your eye as well. I was so tempted to go for a high leg style like this but knew that an ankle boot would get so much more wear by me.

I went for a classic pair of black leather boots that will honestly go with everything. I don't really have an everyday pair of boots that will go with any outfit, no matter how casual or dressy it is, so these were the pair for me. They are the black Whisper boots* and are one of Hotter's classic styles that get a refresh and a revamp each year.

As always, the team at Hotter were so helpful and went above and beyond to make sure that I was happy with the fit and the style of the boot, even during the busy Christmas period.

We put on our new boots and headed over to the big Christmas Market at George Square to take in the sights and really get in the Christmas spirit. What I continue to be amazed by with every pair of sandals, shoes or boots that I buy from Hotter, is the fact that they require zero breaking in. The amount of pain that I used to have to go through to break in a new pair of boots or shoes was unreal and so silly, looking back.

Every pair that I own from Hotter feel like you're wearing nothing at all and I can go a full day of wearing them without counting down the hours and minutes until I can take them off at the end of the day, like I used to do.

We're both so happy with our new boots and can't wait to put them to good use until what will no doubt be May or June here in Scotland.

Have you been to the Christmas markets where you stay? Or made a trip to one further afield this year? What do you think of our picks? Do you prefer ankle boots on high leg ones?

Wednesday, 19 December 2018

If you saw my The Top 10 Beauty Gift Sets (For Every Budget) Christmas Gift Guide, you will know that I already featured one of my favourite perfumes from this year in what is a great gift set for Christmas. But I had to share some more of my favourite scents from 2018, all of which will work well for a whole host of different women.

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Probably my favourite scent of the bunch, Jimmy Choo Fever is a brand new release for Winter 2018 and it is simply superb! I grew up loving fruity scents but now I like more of a floral or oriental twist to them and Jimmy Choo Fever is the perfect blend of fruity and floral. It's sweet without being sickly or overwhelming as well.

I also can't get over how stunning the bottle (and box) are. I may or may not have held onto the box just because of how beautiful it is. I honestly don't think you can go wrong gifting this particular perfume this Christmas and it is definitely one of those scents that many would be happy to receive on Christmas morning.

Now this is another scent that you simply have to smell for yourself! I've never tried a fragrance with juicy pineapple as a top note but boy is this good! I'm also always drawn to vanilla notes in perfumes and fragrances and I'm glad to confirm that you get just a hint of that in this as well, which is quite the feat when you realise that it's in the mix with pineapple, pistachio and jasmine, to name but a few of it's notes.

If you're a fan of the original Girl Of Now scent, this Shine spin on it makes it brighter and sweeter and makes me want to book a holiday somewhere warm and sunny. I think I might need to save this for my next trip abroad to make it a memorable scent for that holiday. Also, how beautiful is the bottle?!

Much like the other scents in the Mon Guerlain range, this lasts all day and is a fragrance that will take you from day to night so easily. If you're a fan of the EDP, I would certainly recommend checking this out, as would I if you like citrus-y, vanilla-y and even slightly spicy/woody scents. Certainly give this a try. It's softer than the original but in the nicest way.

A great pick for teenagers, sisters, colleagues, friends and many more, Missguided's Babe range of perfumes have been such a big hit! If you or the person that you're buying for likes sugary sweet scents, then this is the one for them!

Launching this Summer, DKNY Stories is for those of us who like powdery and woody scents with a sweet twist.

This fragrance is also stocked on ASOS making it very easy to add to your basket. Definitely take advantage of Premier Delivery if you have it (honestly one of my best purchases of 2018!) and if you have any A-List vouchers left to use, buying beauty and fragrance could be the best way to go.

Do you have a favourite fragrance or perfume that you always go back to? Have you tried any of the scents in today's gift guide? If so, what do you think of them? And what are you hoping to find under the Christmas tree this year?

Here are some more great fragrance picks for Christmas 2018;

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First up we have my top palette pick for Christmas 2018; Charlotte Tilbury's Stars In Your Eyes. Is this not the most beautiful eyeshadow palette that you have ever seen? Comprising of four separate looks or twelve shades if you're a fan of mixing and matching, the Stars In Your Eyes palette has the most stunning and insanely pigmented shadows that I've ever witnessed.

As soon as I saw this palette I knew that I had to own it and after swatching it in person at my local Charlotte Tilbury counter, it went straight to the top of my Christmas list this year. Thankfully my Mum listened to me going on and on about this palette and the fact that it would surely sell out, probably at the start of December and she managed to pick one up for me, which I can't wait to open on Christmas Day, even though I am getting to see and hold it a week early to take photos for today's post.

As expected, the palette is currently sold out online but I would definitely pay your local Charlotte Tilbury counter a visit as your best bet will be finding it in store.

If the person you're buying for this year is highlighter mad, this palette from bareMinerals would be a perfect pick! The shades are absolutely gorgeous and not what you would traditionally expect from a highlight palette per se. The Luminous Golden shade is probably the most traditional shade, with someone as pale and fair skinned as me, being able to wear the two other shades Luminous Coral and Luminous Pink more as blushes, which I absolutely love!

The formula is also so creamy and as someone with dry to dehydrated skin, I tend to opt for cream consistencies at this time of year as well. The packaging of bareMinerals entire Christmas and holiday collection is so pretty (you can see more of the range in my November: A Month In Events blog post) and this would surely be enjoyed by many a different person this festive period.

Now if this palette and it's sister shadow palette, the Starlight Crystal Eyeshadow Palette, doesn't scream both Christmas Day and New Year's Eve to you, I don't know what will! I absolutely adore the mix of everyday matte shades and seriously sparkly shimmers in each of these palettes. The Smokey Crystal is definitely more of an everyday palette compared to the Starlight Crystal but that's what I love about it. I'll certainly get much more use out of this one when doing my day to day makeup but I've also got my eye on Starlight Crystal for day to night shades.

Again, the packaging is spectacular and the palette itself will make such a lovely addition to any makeup collection this Christmas.

Pixi are one of my go-to's when it comes to neutral shades and they've hit it out of the park again with this limited edition palette. You can easily go from day to night just with this one palette and for that reason it would make such a great buy for so many different people and ages. From teenagers just starting out with using makeup to Mum's, mother in laws, etc. who would welcome an easy to use eyeshadow kit, these shadows and shades blend really well and don't irritate my often sensitive eyes.

Their festive packaging is also always a big hit with me and this year's is no different.

Urban Decay's latest Naked release, the Naked Cherry will surely be on many a Christmas list this year and for good reason. Before I bought this, I had nothing like it in my makeup collection and that is quite a feat in itself. I thought that I wouldn't be able to rock purple hues on my lids but these shades are so wearable. They're also completely buildable if you want to make a real statement.

Much like the rest of the Naked palette range, the pignmentation is fantastic, the mixture of colours all of which can be used together or completely separately are brilliant and there are few stunning stand out shades. Basically, if in doubt about what to buy a beauty lover or makeup fan this Christmas, make it the Urban Decay Naked Cherry. I can promise that they won't be disappointed!

So there are my top 5 picks for fail safe palettes to gift this Christmas. And here are some more palettes that will surely go down well with makeup lovers and novices alike;

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Wednesday, 12 December 2018

We're now well into the festive period. The shops are jam packed no matter the time of day, you've been listening to Christmas music on a bit of a loop and have already watched The Holiday, Home Alone or Love Actually *or insert your own Christmas movie tradition* at least once. So I thought that I would share a few ideas when it comes to buying for the person who has everything this Christmas.

Whether you're shopping for your Secret Santa, someone's stocking filler or that hard to buy for person in your family or friend group, here are some presents that will actually get used by their recipient;

The most obvious gift for someone who's hard to buy for or that you don't know very well has got to be a diary, planner or 2019 calendar. It's something that they will actually use and works well for a whole host of different people. I'm loving this one from Yes Studio. It looks like a much more expensive stationery brand but is well under the £20 mark and available from the likes of Prezzybox and John Lewis.

In a similar vein, stationery is always a top pick in my idea. These sticky notes will really come in handy and definitely make the office that bit brighter when they inevitably return back to work in the New Year.

Some form of Keep Cup or reusable travel mug or water bottle is another great idea. Save them some money when they next go to get a coffee and do your bit and theirs, for the environment. I loved the fact that this one, again from the brilliant Yes Studio, has a slightly more optimistic and a rather more realistic side to it.

Nothing screams actually useful like a snazzy charging cable or portable battery. This one from ban.do might just be the most beautiful one that I've ever seen and very on brand for me and my slight palm/leaf print obsession. It having a keyring attached to it means that I can put it on my keys and therefore hopefully remember to have it to hand when I really need it.

If I know someone has a trip planned in the next couple of months, I tend to get them what I would have spent on them in the currency of the place that they'll be visiting. That way they can spend it on something special or a nice meal or excursion when they get there instead of me just getting them something that they might not use. This luggage tag from Kate Spade is another lovely gift idea just in case you want to get your travel mad friend, colleague or family member a physical gift as well as some money or instead of.

When I'm buying for that person who says they don't really need anything this year, I like to think 'what wouldn't they necessarily buy for themselves?' and that's where the likes of silk eye masks and jade rollers come into play. They're little bits of luxury that we probably wouldn't buy for ourselves but would love to receive as a gift.

I've wanted to treat myself to one of slip's iconic silk eye masks for as long as I can remember so no doubt others will be over the moon to receive one too. Also, I couldn't resist the new limited edition leopard print, which is why I just had to get one this Christmas.

In a similar vein, if you know that the person likes to take it easy, run a bath and spend a good amount of time pampering themselves (or on the flipside, they don't make enough time in their schedule to switch off and relax), these beauty gift sets would go down so well.

These are a selection of some of my favourites this year and you really can't go wrong with the likes of The Body Shop, Sanctuary Spa or Nivea. They're also not too expensive either and you should be able to get some pretty good deals on them such as the Boots 3 for 2 and The Body Shop's discount codes.

Sunday, 9 December 2018

I had planned on doing just one big bumper Christmas gift guide this year but when the gift sets are this good, it's only right that they have a blog post of their own. So this week will be Christmas gift guide week on Ellis Tuesday with another two gift guide blog posts going live on Wednesday and Friday.

Friday, 7 December 2018

As you'll have already seen if you read my November: A Month In Events blog post, the past few weeks have been so busy, especially when it's came to blog events and PR meetings and to end the month in a very apt way, I was very kindly invited along to a festive day out with Glasgow Loves Christmas.To say that I was excited was definitely an understatement as two years ago I went on a similar day out with them and it was a such a fantastic experience. So let's see what I got up to, this time, on a festive day out in Glasgow in what will be another photo heavy blog post;

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Exactly five years ago, to the day, I published my very first blog post. It was a review of the eos Strawberry Sorbet lip balm, that I had been loving at the time. The photos were taken on my phone (which definitely didn't have the best of cameras) on top of my white IKEA set of drawers in my bedroom.

Many things have changed over the years but I still absolutely love sharing my thoughts on my little bit of the internet. And I hope that you still enjoy reading Ellis Tuesday as much as I enjoy coming up with ideas, taking photographs and working on it in general.

I'd been trying to think what to get to celebrate the occasion for a while, eventually ending up in Boots last week where I was met by this brilliant gift set from Benefit. The fact that it included five fabulous beauty products, when I was celebrating five years of blogging about beauty and more, completely sold me on getting this set to give away.

A full size of the brilliant BAD GAL BANG (see my review of it here)
A full size of the bestselling Hoola Bronzing Powder
An adorable mini of the brand new Gimme Brow+ in a pretty universal shade (shade 3.5)
A mini of the beautiful POREfessional Pearl (see my review of it here)
A little mini of the They're Real! Lipstick and Liner Duo (see my review of another shade here)
A gorgeous and glitzy makeup bag

I thought that it was the perfect pick for this very special giveaway, especially as I've used, loved and featured several of the products in this set over the course of my five years of blogging.

So for a chance to win the brilliant Benefit Superstar Collection, be sure to enter using the Rafflecopter form below;

a Rafflecopter giveawayThere will be one Rafflecopter winner picked at random - Prize issued by me - Open internationally

I wish that I could thank every one of you individually for continuing to read and support Ellis Tuesday and my plan is to continue doing a giveaway each month so that I can share the love with more of you personally. I cannot even begin to explain how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

So there we have it, five years of Ellis Tuesday! Would you like to see a little round up of what my biggest highlights have been from those five years?

How long have you been reading Ellis Tuesday for? What are your favourite kinds of blog posts to read from me? And will you be entering today?

Ellis Tuesday is a beauty, fashion & lifestyle blog brought to you by Ellis, a self confessed shopaholic from Scotland with an overwhelming stash of beauty products and a love for all things leopard print.